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In Verizon's transparency report covering the timeframe from January 1 to June 31, Verizon said the information was only released in the event of a valid law enforcement demand or an appropriate request in an emergency involving the danger of death or serious physical injury.

In a report released Tuesday night, the bipartisan, five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, appointed by President Barack Obama, largely endorsed a set of NSA surveillance programs that have provoked worldwide controversy since they were disclosed last year by former NSA systems administrator Edward Snowden.

Telefonica agreed to purchase E-Plus from Dutch telecommunications company Royal KPN NV in a cash and stock deal estimated at about 8.5 billion euros ($11.6 bilion), after winning the support of KPN's biggest shareholder, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. Telefonica, a Spanish company, plans to merge E-Plus with its own German arm, O2.

The Free Mobile Disaster Act, which was signed last week by President Benigno Aquino III but announced only on Friday, directs mobile phone operators to send out alerts about storms, tsunamis or other calamities whenever required by national disaster agencies.

The announcement comes after reports this week that Verizon and British company Colt provide Internet services to the German parliament and other official entities. Germany has been at the forefront of international outrage over alleged electronic eavesdropping by the U.S. National Security Agency and Britain's GCHQ, revealed last year by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

From Los Angeles to New York, and in San Diego, Chicago and Houston, officials met to discuss Wednesday's unanimous ruling that could make it harder for officers to quickly find incriminating evidence. The ruling prohibits law enforcement from searching an arrestee's cellphone without a warrant unless a person's safety or life may be in danger.

CTIA is asking that Congress narrow the Commission’s authority to regulate only in specific areas where competition might not necessarily produce the desired result, for instance to ensure emergency communications in underserved areas.

EU antitrust commissioner Joaquin Almunia said Wednesday a preliminary probe by his office has found the arrangements are improper, though the companies as well as the countries involved — Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg — must be given a chance to respond.

Telecommunications company Vodafone's report on government surveillance of its customers in 29 countries reveals more than first meets the eye — and is raising questions from Dublin to Delhi about how much spying on email and telephone chats happens in secret.

The report itself reflects the concern now being raised regarding privacy rights around the world. Though Vodafone is a global company, it consists of separate subsidiaries, all of which are subject to domestic laws of the countries in which it operates.

WEA is one of those rare instances where a number of players - regulators, government, first responders, carriers - got a lot of moving parts to fit together and the results are truly impressive, to the extent that they could actually save lives.

Such services incorporate social media functions that allow users to post photos and updates to their friends, or follow the feeds of companies, social groups or celebrities, and — more worryingly for the government — intellectuals, journalists and activists who comment on politics, law and society. They also post news reports shunned by mainstream media.

China called for a halt Tuesday to what it called unscrupulous U.S. cyberspying, saying that a monthslong investigation into reports on the "ugly face" of U.S. espionage has concluded that China is a major target of those efforts. The report by China's Internet Media Research Center...

The Justice Department does not have to turn over information on cases involving warrantless cellphone tracking if the cases ended without a defendant's conviction, a divided federal appeals court ruled Friday in upholding privacy protections for people acquitted of crimes.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the commission will reportedly release a new draft of its rules early this week. The revised document will include new language that would ban broadband providers from blocking or slowing down websites but would still allow them to strike deals where content companies could pay for faster delivery of video and other content.

An annual spring party in a Southern California beach town devolved into a riot last month when revelers turned violent, rocking cars, smashing windows and throwing rocks. Dozens were injured and about 50 people ended up in the hospital, including several police officers.

The Supreme Court seemed wary Tuesday of allowing police unbridled freedom to search through cellphones of people they arrest, taking on a new issue of privacy in the face of rapidly changing technology. The justices appeared ready to reject the Obama administration's argument that police should be able to make such searches without first getting warrants.

The European Commission said Monday that Google's Motorola Mobility abused its market position in Europe by refusing to grant crucial technology licenses to rival Apple, then suing Apple for patent infringement when the company used them anyway.

Two Supreme Court cases about police searches of cellphones without warrants present vastly different views of the ubiquitous device. Is it a critical tool for a criminal or is it an American's virtual home? How the justices answer that question could determine the outcome of the cases being argued Tuesday.

Dropbox today announced a rather noteable addition to its leadership team with the appointment of former Secretary of State Dr. Condoleeza Rice to its board of directors. According to a blog post on the company's website, Finally, Rice's experience in international affairs was favored for helping Dropbox expand its global footprint.

The European Union's top court on Tuesday scrapped key legislation allowing the indiscriminate collection of Internet and phone communication data for law-enforcement purposes. The European Court of Justice ruled that the data retention directive offers too few safeguards to protect people from authorities' snooping and...

China has finally approved Microsoft's acquistion of Nokia's devices and services business. On China's Ministry of Commerce website, the Ministry said it would go along with the deal but tacked on a few conditions regarding pricing around the use of Nokia's significant patent portfolio.

The European Parliament voted Thursday to stop Internet providers from charging for preferential access to their networks — a step cheered by consumer groups and startups but bemoaned by the telecommunications industry. The bill on "net neutrality" forces Internet providers to treat all traffic the same regardless of its source.

Yahoo announced measure Wednesday that include the completion of a system that encrypts all information being transmitted from one Yahoo data center to another. The technology is designed to make the emails and other digital information flowing through data centers indecipherable to outsiders.